So many bugs and help issues have been raised because of it...

So many people have asked for it but until now it has never been possible...

The new, about to be released Enigmail version 0.89.0 delivers the one thing we have wanted for ages...

Yippee! I hear you cry from around the world!

Ben Goodger (Mozilla.org) has done some great work with the Extensions Manager which has allowed Patrick to do some amazing work on the back end of Enigmail to make it into a single XPI.

Not only that, but he has created a new key management interface which allows you to:

• Generate keys (to be updated in a future version to select size, etc.)
• Sign keys
• Set trust levels
• Import and Export keys from/to file (keyserver support to follow in a future version)
• View signatures
• Add a User ID
• Change Primary User ID
• Create a revocation certificate
• View Photo ID's

This means that for most basic key management tasks you no longer need another utility installed. The functionality will be increased slightly as indicated above, but there is no intention to add complex features asuch s you will find in GPGshell and WinPT.

So, two big features in one month. You have to admit that it has been worth the wait!

Before you go and grab a copy of Enigmail v0.89.0 you MUST follow the procedure below in order to avoid problems:

1. In Thunderbird, go to Tools > Extensions, select Enigmail and uninstall it.
2. If Enigmime is shown in the Extensions Manager, uninstall it.
   Shut down Thunderbird and skip to Step 6.
3. Shut down Thunderbird.
4. Uninstall Thunderbird or Remove the Thunderbird Installation tree COMPLETELY depending on how you installed originally.
5. Re-install Thunderbird.
6. Download and install Enigmail v0.89.0
7. Shut down and restart Thunderbird.

By deleting the Thunderbird installation tree, you will remove all traces of the previous Enigmime installation.

If you do not follow these instructions, you WILL experience problems!

AND THERE'S MORE... (Thunderbird only)

If you want to share your profile between Linux and Windows, you have to install Enigmail globally using the command line:
thunderbird -install-global <enigmail-xxx.xpi>

If you have installed Enigmail and wish to change it to a global installation using the command line above, you MUST uninstall it from your profile first:

1. In Thunderbird, go to Tools > Extensions, select Enigmail and uninstall it.
2. If Enigmime is shown in the Extensions Manager, uninstall it.
3. Shut down and restart Thunderbird.
4. Shut down Thunderbird.
5. Install Enigmail from the command line as above.

In case you missed our last newsletter, you can find a copy of it at http://enigmail.mozdev.org/newsletters.html. In fact, if you prefer reading an HTML version of this newsletter, it is already posted there.

Thank you for choosing Enigmail.
The Enigmail Team.
     Patrick, John, Olav, and Barry

You need tips and tricks after all the new stuff you have to play with?

:-)

INSTALLATION PROBLEMS

If you are using the older versions of Enigmail (prior to v0.89.0) which require Enigmime, the number one problem that has come up time and again is "The enigmime service is unavailable" reported in Enigmail > About, or an error on startup after upgrading Mozilla, Thunderbird or Enigmail.

The fix; very simple but works 99% of the time; shut down Mozilla/Thunderbird, go to your profile directory and delete the chrome directory and xul.mfasl (Linux) or xul.mfl (Windows). Restart Mozilla/Thunderbird and re-install Enigmail and Enigmime.

Beware, doing this with the new builds featuring the Extensions Manager will result in the loss of all installed themes and extensions.

There have been issues in some instances where Thunderbird/Mozilla does not recognize that Enigmime is installed. Sometimes shutting down Thunderbird/Mozilla, deleting compreg.dat from your profile directory, re-starting Thunderbird/Mozilla and re-installing Enigmime fixes this issue.

The Enigmail troubleshooting page is available at http://enigmail.mozdev.org/troubles.html and is the best place to start if you experience any problems with Enigmail.

For basic information on configuring and using Enigmail, the help page at http://enigmail.mozdev.org/help.html is a great starting point.

Of course, if you've looked there and you still have a question, that's what the newsgroup and mailing list are for.

If you suspect that you have found a bug or are having problems with Enigmail, giving all the information on your configuration and an exact description of the issues you are experiencing will help us to help you better.

Information that is useful in tracking down bugs:

1. Platform; Linux/Windows/Mac
2. Application; Mozilla/Thunderbird/Other
3. Version; Is it a milestone release or a nightly build?
   Remember, nightly builds are not supported. If it works, great, if it doesn't, revert to a milestone build or accept that you will have to live without Enigmail until an interim build is released.
4. Is the application a localised version?
5. Are you using a localised version of Enigmail?
6. Did you build Mozilla, Thunderbird or Enigmail yourself?
7. Include the User Agent string from a message you have composed, e.g: User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 0.8 (Windows/20041005)
8. What other extensions are loaded. Where; Profile or Application?
9. A thorough description of when the problem occurs, and how it manifests itself.
10. Does the problem affect Inline, or PGP/MIME, or both methods?
11. What you have tried to get it working; what helped, if anything, and what didn't.

OPENPGP CONCEPTS AND TUTORIALS

The GNU Privacy Handbook:
http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual.html

Michael Diagle's Web of Trust page:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~mdaigle/trust/wot.html

GnuPG.org:
http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/download/index.html

Nullify (A Windows specific build with installer):
http://www.nullify.org/
Note:
The Nullify build is over a year old and very out of date, being v1.2.3. The current version of GnuPG is v1.2.6.

The Enigmail Team's 'GnuPG Installation and Configuration on Windows':
http://enigmail.mozdev.org/gpgconf.html

Brendan Kidwell's 'A Practical Introduction to GNUPG in Windows':
http://www.glump.net/content/gpg_intro/html/2_Installing_GPG.html

Clément Séveillac's 'How to secure your emails with GnuPG and Enigmail':
http://dudu.dyn.2-h.org/nist/gpg-enigmail-howto.php

The Enigmail Help Page:
http://enigmail.mozdev.org/help.html

LeRoy Cressy's excellent Beginners Manual:
http://downloads.mozdev.org/enigmail/docs/beginners-manual.pdf

German/Deutsche Pages:
Ralf Kreutzmann's Windows Help file:
http://www.equipmente.de/viewtopic.php?t=437

GPGshell for Windows:
http://www.jumaros.de/rsoft/download.html

WinPT for Windows:
http://winpt.sourceforge.net/en/

German/Deutsche Pages:
Ralf Kreutzmann's GnuPT-Installer:
http://www.equipmente.de/viewtopic.php?p=1080#1080

Tom McCune's PGP Page:
http://www.mccune.cc/PGP.htm

Jim Willingham's PGP Site:
http://www.cooke.net/~jwillingham/pgppg.htm

David S. Jackson's PGP Resources Page:
http://www.dsj.net/pgp/resources.html

Rubin.ch PGP Page:
http://www.rubin.ch/pgp/pgp.en.html

German/Deutsche Pages:
Anleitungen und Einführungen:
http://kai.iks-jena.de/misc/anleitung.html

Gnupg-users mailing list:
Gnupg-users@gnupg.org
http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users

PGP-Basics mailing list:
PGP-Basics@yahoogroups.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PGP-Basics/